


spring daffodils

by Beyond_the_Grace



Series: kindness blooms [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Fluff, Gen, Good Petunia Evans Dursley, Good Slytherins, Harry Potter was Adopted by Other(s), Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Harry Potter-centric, Introspection, Not Canon Compliant, Regulus Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28740738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beyond_the_Grace/pseuds/Beyond_the_Grace
Summary: ‘ the afternoon turned to evening and with it the sky turned to gold. had harry been theo, he was sure he would have said something about times worth and how the memories they made were worth more than all of the gold in the world. but he wasn't and so he sat and he drank up every single one of them. he knew there was a darkness creeping in, bigger than the approaching night. for all he knew all those at the table may not be sat around it in a years time so he sat and he watched. ’or the one before fourth year where harry loves his family so much.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Blaise Zabini, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Regulus Black & Harry Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black/Petunia Evans Dursley, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Theodore Nott & Harry Potter
Series: kindness blooms [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773583
Comments: 7
Kudos: 118





	spring daffodils

harry wasn't sure what to make of his godfather. he liked how funny he was and how he tried to be as nice as possible to everyone in the house (even after petunia had yelled at him and punched him in the nose) but he remembered how sad and scared everyone had been the year before. part of it hadn't been sirius's fault but it had been sirius's choice to give him to hagrid. why on earth was dumbledore the one taking him from who had been his legal guardian and why had sirius gone along with it? sirius tried to say he was young and stupid but that still didn't add up. harry was young but he knew that safety came before revenge, he also knew not to trust dumbledore. that may have been petunia and regulus's fault though, even before he went to school they had told him not to trust the old wizard.

iris loved sirius though. regulus said it was because they were at the same level of maturity and the face sirius had pulled at this comment made even petunia laugh. in fact it had been iris who had insisted that sirius stay for the whole summer and not just for dinner. petunia had agreed quickly, as had harry when he had been told his friends could still come over, but regulus had taken some convincing. the two brothers argued a lot and regulus had really lost it when iris picked up swear words from her uncle.

"so there is just an escaped convict living with you now?" blaise had asked when harry's friends had come over to visit. their group had sat out in the garden to play football and to chat. luna was a remarkable striker but got very distracted. "isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"the fact he says that without a trace of irony." theo had responded with a smirk.

"i'm afraid i have no idea what you are referring to, my mother simply had bad luck."

"did i mention your mother?"

"i think he's nice," neville cut in before a real fight could start. "he gets on really well with iris, she hasn't clung onto blaise at all this year."

"you're just jealous she likes me best." blaise sniffed and harry furrowed his eyebrows, why was blaise being so confrontational?

"she loves sirius, i think it's genuinely driving regulus insane." harry commented.

"does he not like having his brother around?" neville asked, passing the ball to theo.

"they aren't close, regulus was only thirteen? fourteen? when sirius left." harry explained . "i think it's hard for him having his brother around after so long. they even fought on opposite sides of the war."

"i am so grateful to be an only child."

"shut up theo, you think iris is great so don't even start."

before the argument could continue they were all called in for dinner. luna was already inside talking regulus's ear off about some mythical creature whilst petunia so obviously tried not to laugh at the bafflement on regulus's face. iris and sirius came charging down the stairs and grabbed their plates from where regulus was dishing up. the kitchen was full and bustling with people getting drinks and place mats and all sorts of other things. the house was alive in a way it wasn't when it was just the four of them and harry couldn't help but love it. dinner was a loud and busy affair with blaise still arguing, theo and sirius sniping at each other, luna telling regulus about even more creatures, and other smaller conversations happening. harry pretended not to see the baffled looks that sirius and regulus accidentally shot each other. they were blood even if they never wanted to be.

the afternoon turned to evening and with it the sky turned to gold. had harry been theo, he was sure he would have said something about times worth and how the memories they made were worth more than all of the gold in the world. but he wasn't and so he sat and he drank up every single one of them. he knew there was a darkness creeping in, bigger than the approaching night. for all he knew all those at the table may not be sat around it in a years time so he sat and he watched. 

luna brushed a strand of dirty blonde behind her ear, her eyes gleamed like the glass she had gifted him so long ago. regulus leaned back in a laugh and harry saw the man who had taught him how to write. neville turned his brown eyes to harry, a question in them _are you okay?_ and harry remembered the boy who thought his softness as weakness. iris giggled and harry thought of the toddler she had been, the girl who pulled his hair and looked with blue eyes full of wonder. theo threw a handful of peas at sirius and all harry could see was the high strung boy who'd burst into the library ranting about poetry. petunia raked a hand through iris's messy hair and harry's heart filled with love for the woman who had raised him. blaise laughed with his whole chest and harry saw the eleven year old who had considered a smirk to be too expressive. sirius cackled and harry saw the skinny grim that had followed him the year before.

harry saw his family and he loved them. harry saw those he loved and saw how time had aged them so gracefully. there were scars and laugh lines where smooth skin had once been and he felt so full with it all. every horror and hardship was worth it for what he had here.

they were so lucky to live through who they were.

they were so blessed to be where they are.

* * *

in another world harry did not have a family. in that world he had learnt what it meant to appreciate every kind word and every slither of food as if it was ambrosia. in that world his friends were so painfully human that they were hard to look at some days. in that world he did not laugh but he loved those who tried anyway. responsibility is a steady weight, it's a smell that can't be ignored, it is screaming when all you want it is silence. in this world he is atlas.

he shouldered the world and felt every pound of it.

all he had wanted was a hand on his shoulder and an offer to help. instead he got sycophants and presents he would never understand. he got tickets to the quidditch world cup but he never understood a mothers love. he saw the torment that those with misinformed belief inflicted on the world. fourteen years young and witness to the torture and misery that others where capable of. he had stood unsurpised, unaware he was but a pawn in an old man's game. for our hero to survive he has to die, to die he must be willing.

this is not that world.

in this world he is loved.

in this world he wakes up with house full of friends and family.

in this world he reads it in the papers like everyone else. he reads of the terror at the world cup and watches his uncle go through pale to white.

in this world harry potter is safe.

and he is happy.

**Author's Note:**

> this is not the last post before i explore fourth year but it one that needed writing. after the last few where harry was secondary i decided it was time to see how he feels about everything, harry loves so much and this is a strength i wished to explore in my own au.  
> i hope you enjoyed and as always your comments mean so much and motivate me to write more so 💕  
> thank you xxx


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